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Imaging of water samples for the detection and identification of microplastics
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This study demonstrates that high-resolution direct imaging — using a commercial device originally designed for papermill pulp analysis — can detect and identify microplastics in complex real water samples. The method successfully distinguishes plastic particles from other suspended matter and differentiates between common polymer types.
We demonstrate that direct imaging is a powerful tool for the detection and recognition of microplastics in water, even in case of complex matrices. We use a commercial high-resolution imaging device (Valmet FS5, Valmet Oy.) originally developed for the observation of wood fibres and particles in papermill pulp samples. We show how to discriminate microplastics from other particles in suspension in real water samples. We show differences between several common plastic types in homemade samples.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.